Types of Conveyor Belts and Their Applications

A conveyor belt is a continuous, moving loop that is typically made of rubber, fabric, or metal. It transports or conveys goods or materials from one location to another. Conveyor products are used within factories, warehouses, distribution centers, and airports. They are powered by pulleys and rollers.

There are many types of conveyors, as these solutions are essential for automating the movement of items horizontally, inclined, or vertically in many varying facilities. Conveyors are intentionally designed to limit bottlenecks and resolve organizational inefficiencies throughout shipping and receiving processes. 

Different types of conveyor belts exist to handle specific material characteristics, environmental conditions, and logistical requirements, ensuring maximum efficiency, safety, and durability. Belts can vary by material, surface texture, strength, flexibility, and application. Some conveyor belt types are flat belts, modular belts, cleated belts, curved belts, telescopic belts, and heavy-duty belts. In this article we will break down the types of conveyor belts and their ideal applications. 

Flat Belt Conveyors

A flat belt conveyor is the most common, versatile conveyor type. It uses a continuous flat belt made of materials, such as rubber or fabric, running over a slider bed or rollers to move items. The flat belt conveyor is driven by friction between the belt and pulleys. It is commonly used in retail, manufacturing, packaging, and distribution centers for conveying products, including fragile items, in a smooth, quiet, and efficient manner.  

The benefits of the flat belt conveyor are its simplicity, versatility, and cost-effectiveness. It is best suited for cartons, packages, totes, and uniform products. An innovation to this is the flexible power conveyor. This is a portable, expandable, and flexible material handling solution that uses motorized rollers to move packages and parcels. It is designed to expand, contract, and bend around obstacles, these conveyors are ideal for shipping and receiving, truck loading, and production lines requiring temporary or adjustable layouts.

Modular Belt Conveyors

A modular conveyor belt is a material handling belt constructed from individual, interlocking plastic modules, typically held together by hinge rods rather than being a single, continuous piece. The belt is riven by sprockets to prevent slipping. Modular conveyor belts are durable, adaptable, and easy-to-clean belts.

They are widely used in food processing, packaging, and manufacturing. Modular conveyor belts offer easy, fast repairs due to the interlocking plastic modules. This allows for easy repair of sections instead of replacing an entire belt. Modular belts differ from traditional flat belts, as they use interlocking plastic segments instead of a single continuous sheet and are flexible in layout and integration. 

Cleated and Incline Conveyor Belts

Cleated conveyor belts are specialized conveyor belts featuring raised cleats, ridges, ribs, or barriers attached to the surface. They are designed to securely move products on steep inclines, declines, or horizontal paths. They prevent loose materials from sliding backward or fragile products from shifting. This makes them ideal for manufacturing, agriculture, and recycling. 

Incline conveyor belts are used when transporting materials between different elevations, typically at angles exceeding 20°, or when space constraints limit horizontal conveyor length. They are essential for preventing product rollback, enhancing speed in assembly and packaging, and safely moving items, such as gravel, food products, or packages uphill. They are used at airports, packaging centers, and dock environments.

Curved Belt Conveyors

A curved belt conveyor is a specialized belt solution designed to transport goods around corners or bends,
while maintaining product orientation. They are commonly used in industries, such as logistics, food, and airports, to optimize space, change flow direction without slowing down, and handle items, such as parcels
and post, boxes, and luggage.

Curved belt conveyors are used in place of straight conveyors to navigate obstacles and change product direction by 30° to 180°, or more, without reorienting the item. They allow for efficient, high-speed, and smooth transportation around corners without causing jams or damage to the items they move. 

Telescopic Belt Conveyors

Telescopic belt conveyors are a type of motorized and extendable solution used primarily for loading and unloading trucks, trailers, and containers. They feature multiple boom segments that slide in and out to reach directly into vehicles, such as trucks and trailers. This helps reduce manual labor, increases loading speed, and improves worker ergonomics by minimizing walking. Telescopic belt conveyors are ideal for high-volume shipping docks as they reduce labor, are efficient, and can safely be moved into and out of position. 

Heavy-Duty and Drive-Out Belt Conveyors

Heavy-duty and drive-out belt conveyors are engineered for high-impact, 24/7 industrial, logistics, and bulk material handling. They feature robust steel frames, high-capacity belts made of durable rubber or feature a heavy-duty slider bed. These belt conveyors are built for high-load capacities and are ideal for demanding industrial and distribution settings. Rigid drive-out conveyors are powered and feature an extendable design for efficient truck loading and unloading and work great for deep trailer loading. 

Retail stores will also find rigid drive-out conveyors are the perfect solution for round the clock loading and unloading of trucks and trailers. They offer high durability for permanent, long-term loading dock setups.
Heavy-duty and drive-out belt conveyors differ from telescopic conveyors, as they are made for demanding, 24/7 environments. They are most commonly used in long-term loading and unloading setups. Telescopic conveyors are ideal for high-volume, rapid truck loading and unloading. They are a good option too, but are better for shorter-term loading setups.

How to Choose the Right Type of Conveyor Belt 

Choosing the right type of conveyor belt solution will depend on your organization’s applications and specific needs. Many factors should be considered when selecting a conveyor solution.

Factors to Consider 

• Weight and size: Heavy or bulky items will need robust belts, such as thick rubber with high-tension and wear resistance. Lightweight, small, and fragile items often use plastic conveyors.
• Sanitation: Food items require food-grade urethane or specialized stainless steel modular belts for hygiene and chemical resistance.
• Temperature: Special environments may require high heat-resistant rubber or metal mesh belts.
• Moisture and chemicals: Humid or oily conditions will require non-absorbent materials, such as plastic or urethane, to prevent degradation.
• Incline needs: Steep angles may require cleated and textured belts to prevent items falling or rolling back down the conveyor solution.
• Curves: If the product line needs to navigate obstacles, such as posts or non-movable equipment in a warehouse, curved belt conveyors should be considered.
• Maintenance: Depending on the materials being conveyed and the number of hours a conveyor is running, maintenance or breakdowns of a conveyor solution can a factor. Modular or heavy-duty conveyors may be the answer.

These are a few of the factors organizations need to consider when looking into conveyor solutions. A full, comprehensive evaluation should also include reviewing the products conveyed (weight, size, and fragility),
the facility design and layout, environmental conditions (temperature, moisture, oil, heat), the obstacles to navigate (inclines, angles, curves), and the industry of operation (food, retail, industrial). Many times, several different types of conveyors should be used to resolve different types of conditions present. This is where having a partner like FMH Conveyors is important.  

FMH designs and manufactures a wide range of conveyor solutions focused on loading and unloading operations. Our solutions include flexible gravity conveyors, powered flexible conveyors, telescopic conveyors, rigid drive-out conveyors, rigid modular conveyors, and curved belt conveyors. As North America’s leading provider of truck loading and unloading material handling solutions we offer a wide spectrum of customized solutions to meet your needs. 

We manufacture many different types of conveyor belts to expedite supply chains, integrate automation, and increase productivity throughout operations. We manufacture, install and service a complete range of conveyor products for truck loading and unloading along with other applications for manufacturing, assembly, order fulfillment, and packaging operations.

Our types of conveyor belts are built to increase efficiency in even the toughest shipping and receiving environments. If your operation requires a belted, skate wheel or roller conveyor, we have the conveyor equipment you need. Whether you’re running a production line, a loading dock, or a retail store, there’s an FMH conveyor that will save you time and money. Contact us today.